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Can You Hear It?

Tender Voice

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

I Need Thee Every Hour
By: Annie S. Hawks, 1836-1911 (1872)

Listen to this beautiful piano version as you read, or watch the video then read. Please be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

We consider the latter part of this first stanza today.  As we do, we delve into our need for peace and the reality that there is no other to be found that compares to what God offers.  That said, why do we not pursue it with greater abandon?  Let’s think about this.

For Rhyme’s Sake

This is an interesting line that requires a little thinking to confirm the obvious statement at the initial look.  It seems to be saying “No tender voice can afford peace like Thine.”  It first almost looks like “No tender voice like Thine can afford peace”, implying that any voice like God’s is similarly unable to give peace, which is the opposite of what is trying to be communicated.

Hymns are sometimes guilty of moving words out of order to make the rhyme.   I think this is an example of that.  Here is what one author suggested our hymn writer is trying to say.  “No [other] tender voice furnishes peace [to me] quite as well as yours does.”  You can find the explanation of that interpretation here.

Tender Voice

With that in mind, let us consider now the different aspects that make up this second line.

Peace?

The first thought that comes to me when I think of God’s tender voice is Jesus describing Himself as the Good Shepherd.  You can read the larger context in John 10, but we will press in to one verse to grasp the imagery.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  John 10:27 ESV

We have all found ourselves in the position of that lost sheep, only to realize too late that we have wandered away from the protection of the shepherd, sometimes willfully and sometimes not.  When we realize that we are in a place void of peace what we long for is to hear the voice that ushers it back to us.

We can trust we will hear that voice when we have first confessed our need of Him.  What is truly needful though is to develop an awareness of our continual need.  This helps us cultivate a desire to listen for His voice more often, which keeps us from listening to other voices and protects us from some of the trouble we otherwise end up in.

Maybe today you lack peace.  We have all been there.  Ask your gentle, tender Shepherd to speak to you.  Ask Him to help you hear His tender voice, and to move toward it with the confidence He is already moving toward you.  If you have peace today, ask Him to speak so you can better know His tender voice and be even more ready when the next threat to your peace comes.

Affords Peace

The use of the word afford here means to give.  No voice gives us peace like the tender voice of Jesus.  And how we need to hear His voice, not only when peace seems to be slipping away, but every hour.

We must be vigilant to listen for two reasons.

  1. His voice is tender
  2. Other sounds attempt to overshadow it

I think of how God revealed Himself to Elijah in the still, small voice of I Kings 19.  Though His voice spoke everything into being in Genesis 1-2, it seldom breaks forth with that kind of obvious power.  He wants us to choose to listen, so He speaks with a voice the requires we do, rather than one that demands it.

A little later in John our Good Shepherd offers this promise.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV

Troubles and fears echo in our souls.  They threaten to drown out the tender voice of God.  We must train our ears to listen for Him.

None Like Thine

I heard someone say once that we should speak into our children’s lives in the quiet moments so that when the storms come they are accustomed to our hearing our voices and trust that we will help them.  This is exactly what our Father wants to do.  But we must be listening in the quiet times so we are ready when the noise comes.

And let’s be honest it is hard to discipline ourselves to do that.  When trouble comes we are desperate to hear from God.  But if we have not already learned to listen it will be more difficult to identify His voice.  When we learn to declare regularly how much we need Him, every hour at the very least, we will be better equipped to hear His tender voice, and receive the peace it affords.

Ask Jesus to help you routinely listen for His tender voice.  Discipline yourself to be quiet so you can identify it.  Then when troubles and fears assail your soul, you will be able to cling to peace like nothing this world affords.

Jesus, help me to learn how to listen for Your voice.  I need You every hour.  Teach me to listen every hour, especially in the quiet ones, so when the noisy ones come I can still hear You tender voice.  In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Peaceful Thinking!

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, and sometimes to Free Members.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Subscribers and Free Members enjoy this podcast! Everyone else the transcript below! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures and reflections shared.

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.

I need Thee every hour,

Psalm 40:17 ESV

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!

This is a great place to begin, confessing our need of God, and why not?  This Scripture speaks what we know to be true, the Lord takes thought of me.  We know it to be true because He has delivered us before, so cry out every hour with the Psalmist, “Do not delay, O my God!”

   most gracious Lord;

Isaiah 30:18 ESV 

…the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

And He will not delay because of this incredible promise, that He actually waits to be gracious, and exalts Himself when He shows mercy.   He is just and faithfully blesses all who wait for Him. Tell Him you need Him, then wait for His grace to flow.

No tender voice like Thine

John 10:27 ESV

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

He is our gentle shepherd.  He speaks and we hear His voice.  But we not only hear it, we obey. Why?  Because we are convinced He knows, knows what is best for us, and has the authority to bring it to pass.  Ask Him to help you hear His voice as you wait.

   can peace afford.

John 14:27 ESV

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

And this is what we hear when we listen to His voice.  Peace. Not like the world gives, but as only He can. Peace is not the absence of conflict.  Peace is the presence of God. Tell Him you will listen for His voice in trouble and when fears come so you may receive His peace.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Tender Voice – https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-holding-sheep-statuette-161289/
Peace? – https://pixabay.com/photos/lamb-baby-animals-sheep-animal-1081950/
None Like Thine – https://pixabay.com/photos/religion-faith-shepherd-schäfer-3450127/

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Do You Know How Much You Need God?

I Need Thee

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

I Need Thee Every Hour
By: Annie S. Hawks, 1836-1911 (1872)

Listen to this beautiful piano version as you read, or watch the video then read.  

We begin a six week journey of exploring and expressing our constant need of God.  This must be a concept we become very comfortable practicing, for doing so takes us to a much deeper intimacy with God.  I pray you develop the habit of routinely telling our Lord how much you need Him during this journey.  Let’s tune our hearts.

I Need You

It is not easy to admit we need anything, until of course we are at the end of ourselves.  This reality alienates us from God, and others, in direct correlation with how self-sufficient we pretend to be.  And it can be a very subtle sufficiency, cloaked in the guise of not wanting to be a burden to others, or asking God for help, but let’s call it what it really is, sin.

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! Psalm 40:17 ESV

When we need deliverance from situations too big for us and help with circumstances too great, we have no trouble crying out for quick relief.  That’s good, but there is another kind of need with which we use reacquaint ourselves.  It is the continual awareness of our need for God, particularly in the mundane, that takes our relationship with Him to that deeper level.

In that moment we first realized we needed a Savior and that Jesus was willing to be ours, we easily declared, “I need You!”  Do you remember that moment?  “The hour (you) first believed” in God’s amazing grace?  It is just as amazing every other hour after that, and you certainly continue to need it, but something happens to all of us.

Over time we slowly become callous to our need of God all the time.

Can you recall the last ordinary moment you told Him you needed Him?  That might be a little tricky because ordinary moments are simply not very, well, extraordinary, so they are easy to forget.  Even still, is it a habit of yours to confess your need of God?

Tell Him right now.  God, I need You.  In this hour, I need You.  

Every Hour

Every Hour

Our need for God never changes, but our awareness of it does.

I am not even going to try to convince you of this one.  You are poor and needy, just embrace it, and the incredible truth that Jesus wants to help you.  You are on His mind.  Now, to develop your ability to keep yours on Him.

So what are you going to do about that?  May I make a suggestion.

Begin to develop this habit with one of these simple reminders today.

  1. Every time you pass through a doorway tell Him you need Him.  It is a good reminder that as you transition from one place to the next you need to confess your need of Him.
  2. Set an alarm for an hour from now.  When it goes off simply tell Him you need Him, and you are open to His care.  Then restart the alarm for an hour again, and repeat.

These are simple things but they can help cultivate an awareness of your need for God’s presence.

Which one will you do today?  Commit to one right now before this concept slips away, and with it several more hours when you could have been confessing your need for God.

Most Gracious Lord

Most Gracious Lord

What perspective of Jesus comes to mind in those moments when you are telling Him you need Him?

Consider this verse.

…the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.  Isaiah 30:18 ESV 

That first phrase really struck me.  Jesus is waiting to be gracious to you.  I think that means He is longing to do it, more than looking for the right circumstance.

Join that concept of longing with this image and I think that makes sense.  Jesus wants to be gracious to You, and actually is being gracious always, but we are unaware so His grace is effectively lost on us.  How sad that is, and how sad that must make Him.

I believe it makes Him sad for two reasons.

  1. He wants to be gracious to us because He loves us.  When we are unaware of it, I believes is saddens Him.
  2. He is exalted when He shows mercy to us, and since He is more aware than we are of just how worthy He is to be exalted, not doing so saddens Him.

Easy fix.  Make Jesus glad today and engage in exalting Him by telling Him how much you need Him.  Nothing makes Him happier.

You may just be surprised to learn that nothing will make you happier than that either.

Tell Him how much you need His grace.  Thank Him for it and receive it in this hour.  Then repeat it again in 60 minutes or less. 

Jesus, I need You continually, and I want to remember that at least hourly.  Help me to practice that today, and find myself reveling in the wonder of Your grace to me in my need. In Jesus name.  Amen.

Needful Tuning!

Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence.   We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

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Subscribers and members enjoy this video and transcript! Everyone else just transcript below!

Video 11.1 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

This is a beautiful place to begin, admitting to God you need Him.  Of course, that was easy to confess as you began the journey with Jesus, but often our self-sufficiency kicks in.  Tell Jesus you need Him in this hour. Then embrace of life of repeating that hourly.

The grace of our Lord makes it easy to admit our need.  But we often feel guilty about a thought, or word, or deed and let that keep us from coming.  Begin to develop the discipline of coming often to God, by asking Him right now to help you receive His grace.

Our gracious and gentle Shepherd said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.” We must learn to tune our ears to hear His voice, and then follow wherever He leads.  Ask the Holy Spirit to tune you heart to identify Jesus’ tender voice.

We must learn to follow because doing so leads us to inner peace, even in the hours when things are not peaceful externally.  Have you experienced the peace of Jesus? Either way, ask Him right now to help you listen and learn the way.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
I Need Thee – https://pixabay.com/photos/hands-hand-fold-woman-finger-work-2274255/
Every Hour – https://pixabay.com/photos/clock-alarm-clock-watch-time-old-1274699/
Most gracious Lord – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/painting-artwork-art-russian-art-1023419/

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Two Things that Define Determined Declarations

How Great Thou Art

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

How Great Thou Art
By: Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940)

Listen to this orchestral version as you read.   Please be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

We close out our five week look into this classic hymn with some final thoughts about the refrain.  Two things we will consider.  There is a deliberate response to a definite subject.   We must not be careless in our response to God, and He is undeniably the object of our affection.  Let’s think about this.

Deliberate

We must be thoughtful and determined in our response to God.  Throughout the hymn we see the author actively pursuing a deeper awareness of God.   Here are some of the words that reveal this.

  • when I…consider
  • I see…Thy power
  • when I look
  • when I think
  • I shall bow

He is living with eyes wide open, ready to receive any revelation that God gives of His greatness.  On every occasion he then responds to what he has encountered with a determination to sing from His soul to the greatness of God.  His deeper awareness prompts Him to offer praise, but he did not stumble upon that deeper awareness.  He diligently pursued.

Are you willing to pursue God as intently?  Are you determined to be very deliberate in your response when you see the greatness of God revealed?  We could learn some lessons from this hymn about how to look for the greatness of God around us.

We will know we have learned those lessons when we find ourselves…considering, looking for, thinking about…God’s greatness.  We will practice what we have learned when we commit to a deliberate, calculated and intentional response to Him by lifting our souls and our voices in praise.  We will echo the Psalmists words with our lips and our lives.

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. Psalm 104:33 ESV

Then Sings My Soul

But that reasoned response does not mean it is dispassionate.  Quite the contrary.  That deliberateness informs our passion, and is actually the first step on the journey towards it.

Duty, Discipline, Delight

We know we should long to be a soul that is ready to sing at any and every moment, but sometimes we just do not feel like it.  Still it is our duty.  Even when it is not easy.

As we begin to develop patterns that remove hinderances to worship and cultivate a watchful heart, what once felt like duty slowly transforms into something else.  It has a different rhythm to it.  It becomes our discipline.  And each of us needs to find our own rhythm, which will not be identical to anyone else’s.

As we become more comfortable with our unique rhythm, it becomes easier to maintain.  It seems less and less like work.  There may be seasons when we fall out of rhythm, but we are able to find it again.  That is when the discipline has become something like breathing, and it is just as life-sustaining.  It is delight.

This does not happen overnight, but it can become a way of living if you keep at it.  If you are deliberate, but with grace.  Where are you on the duty-discipline-delight continuum?  Wherever you may be, are you ready to continue your journey, or find your way back as the was may be?

Jesus, I want to be deliberate in my relationship with You.  I want to have eyes and ears and a heart wide open to You.   Help me cultivate this everyday, until I find myself routinely and spontaneously singing of Your greatness.  In Jesus name.  Amen

Definite

The one thing that makes this entire pursuit possible, and at the same time worthwhile, is the very object of this passion.  He calls us to Himself, makes the way for us to come, enables us to move toward Him, and is Himself the satisfaction discover when we get there.  We know the One that our soul loves because He has made Himself know to us.

He is our Savior God.  And there is no one like Him.

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. Psalm 96:4 ESV 

My Savior God to Thee

We are not seeking to experience some out-of-body experience.  We are not trying to numb or dull your senses to achieve some measure of peace.  We are not expressing our wonder to the universe.

Instead we are seeking a greater awareness of God with heart, soul, mind and strength.  We are attempting to heighten our senses so as to find peace in the greatness of His presence.  We are expressing our wonder to our Great Savior.

He is our Savior God.  And there is no one like Him.

We have identified and are continuing to identify His worth far above all the other gods that would clamor for our affection and attention.  We have examined them in light of Him and found them lacking.  They can not save us.  He already has.

We sing of Him and for Him, but we also sing to Him.  To the glory of His greatness!

He is our Savior God.  And there is no one like Him.

Ask Him for His help as you seek to praise Him from deep in your soul.

Jesus, I want to praise You in every situation for all You have done and all You are.  You are my Savior, my God, and there is no  one like You.  Help me today to be deliberate and definite in declaring Your greatness.  In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Great-ful Thinking!

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, and sometimes to Free Members.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Everyone else enjoy this podcast and the transcript below! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures and reflections shared.

Podcast 10.5 Transcript

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

Psalm 104:1 ESV

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty,

The Psalmist instructs his soul to bless the Lord, and we enter the refrain with our own praise in light of how God has revealed Himself through each stanza of this hymn.  In the wonder of the universe His greatness is on display. Commit to sing of His greatness.

  How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

2 Samuel 7:22 ESV 

…you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

He is great and our voices must declare there is none like Him.  In the beauty of the created world in which we live, His greatness is on display.  Determine to echo His greatness in your soul.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

Psalm 104:33 ESV

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

We sing from our souls our whole life long to the One who gives us breath.  He breathed His last on the cross to enable our praise. In the sacrifice of our Savior, His greatness is on display.  Vow to sing praise to Him.

  How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Psalm 96:4 ESV 

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.

And I will be a part of that praise.  Certainly here, but just as well when I finally see Him face-to-face.  In His Second Coming, His greatness will be on display. Plan to give Him praise that day, but get ready by declaring His greatness today, and everyday.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
How Great Thou Art – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/cross-jesus-christ-easter-3254876/
Then Sings My Soul – https://pixabay.com/photos/microphone-boy-studio-screaming-1209816/
My Savior God to Thee – https://pixabay.com/photos/people-woman-microphone-dark-2600800/

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Heart Song

Wednesday Wanderings with Dr. Sherri is a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.

Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome for this week.

Now that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the  journey of exploring the heart song of the soul.

PREPARATION: In our last Wandering we examined the reckless love and radical forgiveness of God. This week we will continue by exploring the soul’s response to God’s love. When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence. Prepare my heart to receive and illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you.”

PROMISE: 1 Corinthians 14:15 New King James Version 

          My Savior My God My Soul Sings

What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. 

The conclusion is that our Beautiful God is wondrous and showers us with His reckless love and radical forgiveness. When we understand Who God is and respond to What He has done, our soul will respond with a prayer of thanksgiving. The words our spirit sings will  resonate with our understanding of God’s wondrous works.

PSALM: How Great Thou Art 

                    How great Thou art

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

The inspiration for the song came after Boberg witnessed a forceful storm with thunder and lightening. Moments later the sky was calm and a rainbow appeared. While the symbol of the rainbow has been used for various things, to the believer of Christ the rainbow represents the promise of God’s awesome wonder. Nature has a way of bringing our attention to God’s greatness. The stars sparkle and dance. The birds sing. The night chirps. Nature’s soul innately praises God.  Has the greatness of God ever caused you to sing a heart song?

PARABLE: 

   My soul sings of your wondrous works

The song writer begins the chorus with the word then. THEN implies that the song comes after something. After the storm and rainbow, nature called Boberg’s attention to the wondrous works of God. Boberg’s heart song came after he understood WHO God was, WHAT wondrous works God completed, and HOW God was always present.

Isaiah 42:10a invites us to sing unto the Lord a new song, sing His praises all over the world. The new song of The Lord comes from our heart. It comes when we turn our attention toward God. When our soul sings it is not associated with the rigor or logic of our mind. It is not concerned with proper grammar, pitch, rhythm or measures, cord progression, tempo, or stanzas. Our soul sings in response to the love of God. It freely renders an unrestrained sound to God. The sound is written from the pen of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. The lyrics are written with the ink of Jesus encounters. Our soul begins by pondering the goodness of God. Then our soul erupts with a natural melody of the Word of God hidden within our hearts.

Our Holy Spirit led soul sings:

  1. With an understanding of Who God is to you (1 Corinthians 14:15).
  2. About His wondrous acts (Psalm 105:2).
  3. With joy to the trustworthy, secure rock of our salvation (Psalm 95:1).
  4. In suffering when we are held captive by our situation (Acts 16:25).

PONDER and WANDER: Ponder the question:   What is my heart song? 

Ephesians 5:19 encourages us to make melodies in our heart to the Lord. Psalms 96:1 advocates for us to sing a new song unto the Lord.  Have you ever surrendered to your soul’s desire to sing a new and spontaneous song heart song unto the Lord? If not, I encourage you to take time to allow the Holy Spirit to birth a melody unto God that reflects your understanding of WHO He is, WHAT wondrous works He has done in your life, and encompasses your appreciation for His gracious and merciful presence in your life. Don’t be concerned about how it sounds, you are singing to an audience of One, God your Father!

   Everything you touch is a song

PRAYER: Lord God, I desire my soul to sing even when my mind can’t find the words. Help me to focus on your loving kindness and mercy that meets me with each new day. THEN I will surrender to the longing of my spirit to sing a heart song of praise. THEN I will invite the Holy Spirit to sing on my behalf. THEN I will sing with understanding. THEN I will know that everything you touch is a song.

PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to thank God for His wondrous works!  Let the work of your wandering fill you with the desire to sing unto God the praise He is worthy to receive.

Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.

Until next time, be Resonant.

PERSONAL BONUS: Heart songs don’t always come in joy. At times, like with Paul and Silas, they come in suffering. If you would like, you may take another five minutes to read about and hear one of my spontaneous heart songs.

At the age of 40 years young, on June 7, 2017, my baby sister Christine Renee Code took her last breath and went to her eternal home with Jesus. My ongoing journey with grief began. Grief is a normal process and for people experiencing normal grief, there is a time of bereavement. Gradually the feelings begin to ease and they learn to live with the loss. For me, my grief became debilitating. I could not articulate the sorrow. I could not easily recover and resume my life. Grief became my constant companion. Some days she rode quietly as a passenger of my life and allowed me to decide when I would stop to cautiously experience the sadness. Other days she took over the wheel and drove with an audacious speed toward depression. On one of those days when I was spent and consumed with sorrow, my mind, body and spirit checked into the Complicated Grief Inn. I requested a double bed, and I crawled with tears streaming down my face into the arms of Jesus. It was THEN that my soul began to sing a prayer of rescue to God.

Listen to my heart song entitled Rescue Me. 

Only the heart can sing what your mind cannot conceive and your mouth cannot say. As the Holy Spirit uttered my heart song, Jesus came to my rescue. Many other songs evolved from my surrender to my heart song. My prayer for you is that you invite Jesus into your heart and that through the power of the Holy Spirit your heart make melodies unto our Lord in joy, in sorrow, and in hope. For every thing touched by Jesus is a song.

Image attributions:
My Savior My God my Soul Sings: Photo from Pixabay with added text
How great thou art https://pixabay.com/photos/worship-singing-inspiration-church-4088561/ with added text
My soul sings of your wondrous works: https://pixabay.com/photos/concert-singer-singing-stage-2566002/ with added text
Everything you touch is a song: Photo from Beloved.org with added text

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How to Help Your Soul Sing

Then Sings My Soul

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

How Great Thou Art
By: Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940)

Listen to this orchestral version as you read.  Please check out the video log below which will guide you through a worshipful reflection of this stanza, often only available to Subscribers and Free Members.

This week we close our consideration of this beloved hymn by looking into the refrain that comes as a response to each of the stanzas we have meticulously meandered through over the last four weeks.  Check out all those blogs and their media content in the Blogs tab at the top.  Take a few minutes today to ready your soul for your song of praise to our Savior and God.  Let’s tune our hearts.

Then Sings My Soul

We have all had them.  Those moments when God revealed Himself and we are left with a soul full of praise.  Sometimes it is in creation, other times in the beauty of daily living.  He certainly showed His greatness on the cross, and will when He returns.  Our souls sing in those moments, and sometimes our voices do as well. The Psalmist said it like this.

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty…Psalm 104:1 ESV

The clear instruction in Scripture is for us to direct our souls to bless the Lord because He is great!  The soul can bless the Lord with or without the voice.  I am a singer so many times as I was praising my soul has become overwhelmed with a sense of God’s greatness, but an even more normal and regular occurrence is my soul responding to God’s greatness which leads to a song.  My soul leads the way, and my song becomes just one expression, albeit a very valuable and Biblical one.

No Microphone Necessary

You see, our praise more often does not need a microphone because our voice is not even involved.  We are called to live lives that declare the greatness of God, with or without a microphone.  I have had the opportunity to stand at a microphone in a studio an offer my praise to God.  It is thrilling and exciting, but mostly because I have had something great to sing about, my Savior God.

Far more often, there has been no microphone and no studio.  No one standing around to hear and no device to capture the sound.  And it didn’t matter because there was no sound to capture.  I simply poured out my praise from my soul to the heart of God.

Can you manufacture those moments?  I don’t believe so.  I do believe you can prepare for them, even though sometimes God just shows up and leaves your jaw-dropped on the ground.

We prepare by removing the hindrances which might impair our ability to observe His greatness, and cultivating the heart that easily acknowledge it.  But it is not a two-step process as much as an on-going discipline.

So I wonder what hindrances might need removing today?  Maybe you see them as distractions, but beware they may be hindrances masquerading as such.  If you are good in that area, what are you actively doing to cultivate a greatness-declaring soul?  Spend a few moments ask the Holy Spirit to disciple you in your praise-making.

How Great Thou Art

My Savior God to Thee

But sometimes you do need a microphone, and a guitar too!  You find yourself moments after the latest “then” and you MUST offer your praise to God.  Maybe you felt it in your soul, saw it with your eyes, heard it with your ears, etc., and you simply have to respond. 

…you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.  2 Samuel 7:22 ESV

I think of this as the spontaneous praise of a heart that has been made aware of Who God is.  You can not cultivate this.  It just happens.  But it is more conducive in the heart that is free from hindrances.

How many people look at the grand vista of a sunset and either lack the capacity or are hindered to acknowledge the Maker of it?  How many feel the kindness of another and fail to see the One who is the Source of it?  How many wake to a new day and can not appreciate the new mercies it holds, each gifts from the Creator of them all?

We are all guilty of allowing these moments to slip by without entering into a rightful and appropriate “then”.  There are a cacophony of noises and distractions that fill our hearts with other responses.  Keep finding moments like this in your day to recalibrate.  We are here to help anytime.

I pray you will have many more “then” moments like the ones this great hymn deliniates.  I hope we can help you routinely remove hindrances to such expressions and be a source of encouragement as you cultivate a heart that anticipates them.  Ask Jesus to surprise you today with some revelation of His greatness.  Then sing from your soul.

Jesus, my soul sings of your greatness.  Help me remove the hindrances and distractions that might dampen my praise and cultivate the environments and perspectives that will allow it to resonate.    Then sings my soul.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Great-ful Tuning!

Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence.   We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

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Below is content always available to Subscribers, often to Free Members, but here to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the complete Subscribers content, click here.

Everyone enjoy this video and transcript below!

Video 10.5 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

In every one of those moments described in every preceding stanza, and so many more, my soul will sing to Him of His greatness.  When I consider His work in creation, my soul sings His greatness. Think on that work and give Him praise.

When I consider how He reveals Himself to me in the simple daily things and the significant momentous times my soul sings.  As I journey through the varying experiences of life, the highs and lows, and realize He presence ever with me, I am determined to give Him glory.  Will you?

As I reflect on His laying down His life to pay for my sins, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and worship.  Though I move along from His cross taking up my own, I want to routinely come back to the foot of it and give Him praise.  Look up, visualize His cross and thank Him for it.

All other moments of praise point to the last, eternal ones when finally in His glorious, heavenly presence we will offer Him praise as never before possible.  Ask Jesus to stir a longing for those moments, even as you make the most of every one of these.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Then Sings My Soul – https://pixabay.com/photos/worship-singing-inspiration-church-4088561/
No Microphone Necessary – https://pixabay.com/photos/music-studio-music-studio-sound-1290097/
How Great Thou Art – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/sunset-web-banner-music-guitar-1012477/

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